Radio not working after battery change.

[Devin Wright]

Now, this car (1995 Explorer XLT) has given me some problems, but, this is the newest one. Recently, the battery started acting stupid on me. The battery was only two and a half years old. But, my car just wasn't cranking with it in. We put it on the charger for like two hours and nothing happened. We put a different battery from my mom's car in there and it cranked just fine. So, I went and bought a new radio and now my car is cranking and running fine. But, my damn radio is not at all working. There is no display on the screen, there is no sound, can shuffle through the stations, nothing. All the interior lights and outside lights are working just fine though. But, one thing I will say happened, when I went to put the battery from my mom's car into mine I accidentally put the positive on the negative and the negative on the positive and there was a massive spark. The terminals on my mom's battery are oriented differently than what they are on my battery and I just wasn't thinking. But, after switching the battery my car did crank fine. But, another problem I want to point out, I have a cassette-aux conversion tape that I put in my cassette player and hook up to my phone. Recently, the cassette has gotten stuck in there and will not come out. When the radio was working with the cassette in there, the radio was shuffling fine through stations, but when I would press "tape" on my radio it said there was no tape in there when the tape was clearly in there and it wouldn't spit it out. Around this time is when my battery screwed up and I put a new one in there. I know this all sounds weird, and idk if this is all related. But, this is a pain in the ass. I'm planning on selling it soon and getting another car, just getting sick of dealing with the Explorer.

 

[J_C]

First guess would be that hooking the battery up backwards just fried the radio. If that's all the damage that was caused then you are lucky.

On the other hand, the radio has a constant power feed to keep time and station memory. If the radio itself failed first, some types of radio faults can drain and progressively kill the battery.

A low end battery might have that short a lifespan but if it was not a cheap battery then I would wonder whether it was the radio or something else that caused a parasitic drain to prematurely kill it, or you have a failing alternator that was not recharging it well. Sometimes a new battery is just BAD, but it would be a coincidence if both that and the radio failed except for hooking the other one up backwards - so you have two opposing variables, chicken and egg scenario where either could have come first.

I'm assuming you have not left out mention of battery stressful activities like running a significant load with the engine off or very short trips at lower speed so the alternator never has a chance to top off battery charge.

 

[Devin Wright]

First guess would be that hooking the battery up backwards just fried the radio. If that's all the damage that was caused then you are lucky.

On the other hand, the radio has a constant power feed to keep time and station memory. If the radio itself failed first, some types of radio faults can drain and progressively kill the battery.

A low end battery might have that short a lifespan but if it was not a cheap battery then I would wonder whether it was the radio or something else that caused a parasitic drain to prematurely kill it, or you have a failing alternator that was not recharging it well. Sometimes a new battery is just BAD, but it would be a coincidence if both that and the radio failed except for hooking the other one up backwards - so you have two opposing variables, chicken and egg scenario where either could have come first.

I'm assuming you have not left out mention of battery stressful activities like running a significant load with the engine off or very short trips at lower speed so the alternator never has a chance to top off battery charge.

Generally when I drive places I reach speeds of 45-55 and I am doing 15-minute trips to work. So the battery always gets topped off with a charge. And I almost never leave the key in the "on" position and let it set. But, would the cassette being stuck in the radio cause something like this to happen? I mean, like you said, this could all be a coincidence with some of this. I don't know anything about car radios, to be honest with ya.

 

[J_C]

I can't think of any reason why the radio should draw more power in an otherwise off state by just having a cassette in, but it might be possible that it kept supplying power to the eject motor if you tried to remove it but it never finished its travel. I would have thought that more a situation with a CD eject mechanism and a cassette being entirely spring powered but I don't know that much about the mechanical aspects of car radios either.

It seems that at this point we can conclude that it doesn't matter, radio is dead and you may have to take it apart if it is holding your cassette-aux input adapter hostage. You could try prying to pop it out, but that might risk damage to the adapter.

I could see getting tired of dealing with old vehicle issues but I don't see this as much related to an Explorer as any old vehicle... 23 year old cassette mechanism that you're still using, did well to last that long. Things nickle and dime break but it takes a lot of nickles to cost more than a newer vehicle's total cost of ownership, unless it's a little old Corolla or something.

 

[Devin Wright]

I can't think of any reason why the radio should draw more power in an otherwise off state by just having a cassette in, but it might be possible that it kept supplying power to the eject motor if you tried to remove it but it never finished its travel. I would have thought that more a situation with a CD eject mechanism and a cassette being entirely spring powered but I don't know that much about the mechanical aspects of car radios either.

It seems that at this point we can conclude that it doesn't matter, radio is dead and you may have to take it apart if it is holding your cassette-aux input adapter hostage. You could try prying to pop it out, but that might risk damage to the adapter.

I could see getting tired of dealing with old vehicle issues but I don't see this as much related to an Explorer as any old vehicle... 23 year old cassette mechanism that you're still using, did well to last that long. Things nickle and dime break but it takes a lot of nickles to cost more than a newer vehicle's total cost of ownership, unless it's a little old Corolla or something.

I mean, eh, it's gave me a lot of other problems in the past. It has a problem and still does, where it sometimes does not wanna crank unless I pull the fuel pump relay out and put it back into reset the fuel pump to turn back on/make the fuel pump, pump more fuel again. I've replaced the fuel pump assembly and the fuel filter, gave it a full tune-up, left me stranded three times and now a new battery. And I've only had it a year. And the thing that absolutely kills me, is that when it is running it runs AMAZINGLY. Good throttle response, amazing braking, amazing handling, has a nice sound system (which I can't use anymore lol) great vision and is just all around comfortable. Also having a full-size SUV is just very helpful to have.

 

[J_C]

There's nothing to reset on the fuel pump itself, is just a *dumb* motor. I suspect the relay is just flaky and ought to be replaced, or maybe the contacts in the relay socket are corroded and the act of pulling and putting it back, cleans them off a little. Things like this though, are just about luck and timing. Whatever you replace now, might last the remaining life of the vehicle.

 

[Devin Wright]

There's nothing to reset on the fuel pump itself, is just a *dumb* motor. I suspect the relay is just flaky and ought to be replaced, or maybe the contacts in the relay socket are corroded and the act of pulling and putting it back, cleans them off a little. Things like this though, are just about luck and timing. Whatever you replace now, might last the remaining life of the vehicle.

True, the car only has 188k miles on it though. But, eh, still a 22-year-old car either way. The exhaust manifolds have rust on them in the engine, the engine bay just all around looks dirty and cruddy. Honestly, I doubt this car will last another two or three years. But, for me I just need it to last me AT LEAST another year so I can save up and get another car. I'm already saving up now. But, just hope it doesn't blow up on me between here and then lol. But, I am going to replace the radio. It's going to drive me nuts not having a radio in my car. I know a guy who is a damn radio guru. For like three years he used to work at some car shop and radio installations was something he done often. But, I am just glad that nothing else got damaged from mix matching the terminals and wires. Anyways, I appreciate your help man!

 

[1998Exp]

Electronic systems in newer cars have sophisticated protection against reversed polarity, excessive voltage, "load dump," and some other mishaps. A 23-year old Explorer does not. Perhaps that's another reason to save for new wheels...

 

[Mbrooks420]

A vehicle not protecting itself against having the battery wired backward is not a viable reason to get a newer car. They will never make a car that is impervious to the owners mistakes.

 

[J_C]

Electronic systems in newer cars have sophisticated protection against reversed polarity, excessive voltage, "load dump," and some other mishaps. A 23-year old Explorer does not. Perhaps that's another reason to save for new wheels...

The several thousands of dollars purchase and repair costs increase can buy a lot of radios. Heck, even the insurance difference can buy a lot of radios. Now he can get one that does bluetooth, satellite, MP3, and a dozen other things to distract while driving.

 

[Dickybird]

Hey did you check the fuse for the radio.